


Puppy Promises

by StormieLikeWeather



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-15
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:28:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22727662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StormieLikeWeather/pseuds/StormieLikeWeather
Summary: When a strange puppy shows up at Higurashi Shrine, Kagome's world is turned upside down! Rated Explicit for future chapters. =)
Relationships: Higurashi Kagome/Sesshoumaru
Comments: 20
Kudos: 79
Collections: Sessh_Kag_Faves





	1. Looking like one you know

Sopping wet and chilled to the bone, a tiny bundle of fur limped beneath a stone bench at the base of a sacred tree. Its massive roots offered protection against the intense storm thundering across the shrine grounds. 

He pressed his body against the rough bark as blood seeped from the massive wound on his leg. 

Hail pummeled the walkways like golf balls on a driving range. Heated energy swirled through the air, springing bolts of lightning into the tree and forcing it's monstrous limbs to shake and groan. Wind swept through the lush green leaves and plush pink flowers, scattering them from the branches, rendering them bare and naked. 

The night bowed to the powerful storm. 

Only the sharp cries of the puppy could be heard through the torrential downpour.

A crash of lightning shook Kagome from her fitful sleep. Cold sweat clung to her back. For some reason she'd been having nightmares all night. When she woke, she couldn't remember what they'd been about. 

The sense of pain and fear crackled in her aura. 

Groaning softly, she swung her legs over the plush mattress and slipped her feet into a pair of silk lined bunny slippers.

"Hey sis!" Her brother rapped his fist against her bedroom door, "Wake up!" Not bothering to wait for a reply, he threw the door open, soaking wet from head to toe.

"Souta!" Kagome grabbed a pink towel from its place over her closet door, unable to resist the motherly urge suddenly washing over her. She rushed to the twelve year old in her doorway, and draped the coarse fabric over his form, "You're all wet! What's going on?" 

She tried to dry his hair, but he put his hand out and snapped, "Stop it Kagome! I'll dry off in a minute, just listen to me."

What? She stared speechless at her little brother in soggy green plaid pajamas. His dark eyebrows slanted in annoyance and frustration, making him seem far older and far more serious than he ever had before. She couldn't quell the sadness that seeped inside her heart at the thought of never seeing him grow up. The thought of missing her brother grow into a strong young man. 

Maybe she was spending too much time away from home; after all, she'd never seen the stern look in his brown eyes before, the youthful sparkle seemed to be dimming right before her.

Backing away from his dazed sister, he grumbled, "Mom found a puppy outside, but it's hurt and she wants you to go with her to the emergency vet. Hurry up and get dressed." Kagome frowned as he ran from the room, and slammed the door.

His words sunk in, a helpless animal needed to go to an emergency clinic, it had to be really bad if her mother saw fit to leave immediately. Quickly, resisting the urge to jump in the shower, she threw on a pair of jeans and a tank top. Brushing her thick black hair, she ran down the stairs. 

A honk from outside told her that her mom was already waiting. 

She couldn't help the swell of fear creeping up her veins, "Please be okay puppy…"

Staring down at the trembling, whimpering, terrified, little ball of muddy and bloody fur in her lap, Kagome felt utterly worthless. 

She couldn't fix the mangled puppy in her arms. 

She couldn't ease his pain. 

She tried desperately to get the bleeding to stop pouring from the huge gash in his leg with pressure. No matter how crimson the white towel turned, more blood kept flowing until the fabric lost the ability to soak it up and blood simply dripped onto the floorboard.

The fresh bright blood made him slippery. His tiny body quivered beneath her touch. White cottony fur stuck together in reddish brown sticky clumps. 

Cries of pain slipped from his jowls in the form of howls and yelps. 

She wanted to assure the creature everything would be okay. 

To comfort it. 

To let the pup know she would save it...

But as her mother sped into the emergency veterinary clinic's parking lot, she could feel the puppy's breaths begin to die out. 

Tears rolled down her cheeks. For some reason, she wasn't sure she could handle the tiny baby not making it, he just had to. "Don't die…" The words came garbled through the pain throbbing in her chest.

Suddenly her miko powers flared to life, and she coaxed it into the little creature, but like a rubber band the energy snapped back repelled by some unknown force. 

Her tears poured down her cheeks like grief-stricken waterfalls. Never before had she felt like such a failure. 

Her mother moved her lips, but Kagome couldn't hear the words she made past the sobs ringing in her ears. Weight lifted from her blood stained lap

Her mother gently stole the pup, and ran into the brightly illuminated building.

Time passed by slowly as Kagome’s hands shook in her lap. Her shoulders trembled, and her chest ached with strangled tears, but she found her eyes dry. 

She'd cried herself out.

When the tall veterinarian walked into the waiting room with a smile on his face, followed by an assistant carrying the cause of her grief, relief bubbled in Kagome's chest like a comforting balm. 

Seeing him well and alive felt like the best thing on Earth. "You're okay…" Soothing whispers ran from her lips as the vet's assistant passed a now clean and drugged up white ball of fluff into her arms -minus a right leg. 

A coarse line of thirteen black stitches curved around the shaved shoulder where the little guy's appendage used to be. 

The assistant ruffled a grey crescent shaped tuft of fur on the pup's forehead with short chubby fingers, while going over his medicine schedule with her mother. Seeing the slivered moon and the fact that he was missing a leg, Kagome couldn't shake one youkai from her thoughts. 

"Sesshomaru…" The name eased from her parted lips in a breathless sigh, but no matter how quiet, the little bundle in her arms stirred at the name.

"So I just need you to fill out the paperwork and then he'll be all set to go home. Two weeks from now, we will take out the stitches." Kagome was only half aware of her mother and the assistant walking away, all her attention undividedly on the sleepy pup cradled against her bosom. 

"Of course Sesshomaru lost his left arm…and he's grown it back since then…" She stared down into a set of droopy golden eyes. The resemblance, eerie and unsettling, minus the droopiness. 

Sesshomaru's eyes were always alert or narrowed in thought. She couldn't resist the question in her mind, "Are you going to regrow your arm too?" 

Would he? 

With a yawn he buried his cold muzzle into her tank top as if to say, 'cuddle me you crazy girl.'

"Kagome?" Her mother's soft toned voice shook her from her musings about Inuyasha's older Inu Taiyoukai brother. 

"Yeah, Mama?" What did she say again? 

Smoothing the short curls in her black hair, Kagome's mother gave an exasperated sigh. She was so very tired, and it showed by changing her usually happy demeanor to clipped sentences and sagging shoulders, "What will you name him Kagome?"

Without thinking, the young woman blurted out, "Sesshy," and before she could rebuff her spurred answer, the puppy in her arms gave a yelp of agreement, and snuggled closer.

Morning brought an unexpected visitor climbing through her bedroom window. 

"What do you mean you can't go back until Sesshomaru is healed!?" Inuyasha shouted while shaking his clawed fist over the fang sword hanging at his waist, "what does that bastard have to do with you coming back?" 

If she wasn't awake before, she definitely was now. She fought the urge to use the subjugation spell on the hanyou raving angrily while hovering over her sleep deprived form.

"I mean what I said, I just got home a couple of hours ago you baka! Sesshy needs his rest! He lost his leg yesterday and he has to heal, I won't go back through the well until he's healthy!" She yelled before realizing how loud they were being, and checked on the sleeping puppy on her lap beneath the heavy pink comforter. 

Sesshy proved to be a heavy sleeper as he hadn't stirred in the slightest. Hissing, she threw Inuyasha the best glare she could muster. "Be quiet or you'll wake him up." 

How could he be so insensitive?

"What! What are you-!?" The silver dog ears atop his head twitched with annoyed confusion, and he sniffed the air, "Who is under there with you!?" 

Before she could respond, the hanyou threw the blanket off her tired form, and gawked at the little puppy curled up on her lap. 

Sesshy didn't mind noise so much, but it seemed cold air ruining his warmth was a different matter altogether. 

Flashing a set of super sharp baby canines, the little guy snarled at Inuyasha, threatening a nasty bite if his covers weren't replaced. 

"Wha-? When did you get a dog Kagome?" He asked while carefully re-covering the irritated pup.

"Oh yeah," She mumbled, suddenly realizing she hadn't explained the situation to her friend, "We found him last night. He was hurt and we had to take him in for emergency surgery." Unconsciously, her hand went protectively over the little lump in the covers where the puppy cuddled her tummy. "I have to take care of him while he's sick, Souta has school and mama has work, jiisan is busy with the shrine… I'm all the little guy has got…" Sesshy yelped in agreement beneath the comforter.

Cocking a brow, Inuyasha frowned, "Feh! What does that have to do with calling him Sesshomaru?" 

Kagome mentally groaned, she never thought about how Inuyasha would react to her naming the pup after his brother. From the angry scowl on his face, she knew he was less than entertained by the idea. 

Wanting to try the easiest explanation possible, she gently pulled the baby out from under the covers and held him up for Inuyasha's inspection, "He has golden eyes, a grey marking on his forehead in the shape of a crescent, and... well, he did lose an arm…" 

The pup seemed to want to help the situation by offering the hanyou a pair of wide gleaming amber puppy eyes. 

"Plus," She continued while cradling the pup against her chest, "I didn't mean to call him Sesshomaru, his name is Sesshy." Yelping in agreement, Sesshy licked her nose and Kagome giggled. "You like your name don't cha Sesshy-sama!" 

With a scowl on his face, Inuyasha sat on the window sill with his long red clad legs hanging over the edge in the cool morning air, "Feh! That runt smells bad, you should get rid of it!" 

Feeling the heat of her anger flare up her powers, he jumped out the window. Knowing he had yet to make it to the well, Kagome growled, muttering a single word of revenge under her sweet breath, "Sit." 

Even though she couldn't hear his curses or his face plant into the Earth, she knew the subjugation spell did its job. The rosary of beads and fangs hanging around the hanyou's neck would surely be the death of him.

A month later and one would never realize the little playful ball of excited white fluff had even lost a limb! 

He was fast, so very fast and graceful even, leaping through the air and landing with perfect ease. 

"Sesshy!" Souta yelled, running after the new edition to the family, who was currently scampering across the shrine grounds at racecar worthy speeds. Souta's legs ached from chasing the pup. 

Eventually he gave up, bent over and sucking in a deep breath, he whined, "Sess…" The preteen's dark brown eyes went wide as Sesshy suddenly changed direction and pounced his chest. 

"Oomph!" 

Souta landed on the soft grass with a heavy thud, the breath knocked out of him.

Kagome stood on the pavement in a fit full of giggles from the sight of a tickle monster Sesshy torturing her little brother. A massive yellow backpack hung off her right shoulder, weighing her down. 

It was filled to the brim with more ramen and candy than Inuyasha or her little fox kit could eat. At least that's what she told herself. 

The more candy she brought, the more Shippou consumed. A candy black hole. A perpetually tiny calorie black hole.

The little guy never seemed to grow at all, not that she was one to judge. 

It seemed after the Shikon No Tama had been destroyed, she aged just as slowly as the demon kit. 

The massive amount of ramen would mainly be for Inuyasha, that hanyou couldn't get enough of it; rarely could she coax him into sharing the tasty noodles. 

Thinking of her other friends, Sango and Miroku, who had three little ones of their own, she remembered to pack dolls and a baby rattle. Kaiya and Kaiyo, their twin girls, always loved her gifts to them. They cherished everything their Auntie gave. 

Toyo, he was only a few months old so he didn't have much to say yet. He did however love things that made weird sounds. Kagome couldn't resist his chubby cheeked smile.

Noticing the sudden lack of attention from his mistress, Sesshy sauntered up to Kagome and plopped down at her feet, flashing golden puppy eyes. His pink tongue lolled out the left side of his fluffy white muzzle. 

"Oh, Sesshy-sama! You can't go to the Feudal era with me! The Sengoku Jidai is just too dangerous for a little guy like you. You wouldn't be able to defend yourself." 

He tilted his head and rolled his eyes as if to say, 'Like you can?' 

She couldn't resist running her fingers through his long silky fur. Even where it'd been shaved for the operation it had already grown out. "You are just too cute Sesshy! Too cute and too cuddly for your own good! Youkai would gobble you up!"

Souta rolled his eyes at his eccentric time traveling sister. She would be leaving to the past through the shrine's well today, the massive sun colored backpack hanging off her shoulder told him so. 

Listening to her coddle their new puppy, he frowned, "Hey sis, why do you put an honorific at the end of Sesshy's name?"

Her cheeks felt hot, "Oh I uh…um, do I really?" 

"Well," He grinned goofily while rubbing the back of his neck, "Not always, but sometimes yeah you do." 

"Ah, that's probably because of inuyasha's older bro…" Bored, Souta muttered for her to 'have a safe trip' and walked away.

Biting her lip, she groaned, she would need to find more time to spend with her brother before he stopped speaking to her altogether. When had they managed to grow so far apart? 

"Well Sesshy," She smiled while patting the little guy's furry head and scratching behind his ears, "I guess there's no excuse for not spending more time here, after all Naraku has been defeated for five years now and the Shikon no tama no longer exists…" 

The puppy whimpered beneath her small fingers, and she took it as a plea for more detail.

"You see Sesshy, Naraku was a very bad man and he hurt hundreds of people with his greed for power. The Shikon No Tama was a jewel, and I accidentally shattered it many-many years ago. 

Naraku wanted to use the jewel for its power, so he started collecting the shards, but as the jewel's protector I couldn't let that happen. 

I spent my entire high school career juggling my duties in the feudal era and my duties at home, it cost me time with my family, and my studies suffered pretty bad because of it. 

I know more about herbal remedies than I do math equations. 

I'm kinda worried my relationship with Souta is falling apart because of my time away from him. As his big sister I have duties to him, and I haven't really had the time to be there for him. Even after Naraku was defeated, I didn't realize how much I've lost in relation to my own family, not until a few weeks ago that is… The night we found you little guy, I saw Souta in a new light. 

He isn't my little annoying brother anymore, he's growing up, and I'm afraid if I don't do something soon to fix it, that he won't see me as his big sister. 

I'll just be a girl that hops from time to time that he sees ever so often…"

She tried to explain to Sesshy as if he were a child, and as her words hit her lips, she realized just how worried she actually was. 

Tears stung her dark brown eyes, "I can't lose my family Sesshy, but I have family in the past now too and it's just so hard…"

Sango and Miroku and their growing family meant the world to her, she was the aunt to their babies. Shippou was her fox kit, and even though it was left unsaid, she felt for him as if he were her own child, she'd gladly die protecting him. 

There was also Inuyasha, her first crush and dear friend… So many people held a place in her heart, so many people in two different eras. 

"I'll just have to manage my time better Sesshy. No more weeks away from either place! Spending time with everyone is very important to me." 

Wiping away the wetness on her cheeks, she couldn't help but smile. Sesshy had a silly grin spread across his muzzle and licked the side of her face, trying to help remove her salty tears.

Happy again, she made her way to the well house, a large old wooden building with a massive secret inside. Halfway down the walk way, she noticed Sesshy following close on her heels. 

"No Sesshy-sama, you cannot follow me. Sit. Stay." Using her pointed finger, and a less than threatening voice, Kagome laid down the law. Her little puppy was no match for angry hungry demons, and she couldn't risk the well letting him through to the other side.

Sesshy waggled his tail and sat his rump on the cement looking as innocent as ever. 

Figuring she'd won, Kagome threw open the doors leading to the portal in time, and hopped down into the well. A familiar blue light shimmered around her form, sending waves of ancient magic into a frenzy. 

That's when Kagome saw him, her supposedly innocent little pup had managed to sneak a pass to the Feudal era. 

What if he got hurt? Her thoughts were abruptly ended when yellow light shot through her baby pup, spilling from his core like lightning. 

The lights faded and sunshine crashed down the well shaft. "Sesshy!" Blue eyes nearly popped from their sockets as she looked over the toddler standing before her. A grey crescent adorned his forehead, while silver tresses poured over his shoulder like delicate silk covering the front of his naked form. 

He shot her a look of satisfaction, his golden eyes seemed to penetrate her soul.

"Hi Kagome-sama." The voice of a child filled her ears, and she had to catch her breath at the surprise. 

"How are you-! How did you?!" She bit her lip and sucked in a breath.

Without any notice, he plastered himself to her leg, laughing in glee, "Oh Kagome-sama, thank you so much for saving me! A witch sealed my youki and I thought I'd be in my beast form forever! Mother is going to be so angry! Don't Tell her!" 

Trying to hide the sudden rush of tears prickling her eyes, she placed a hand on the little Inuyoukai's head, "What is your real name?" Surely it couldn't be Sesshy as she'd dubbed him the night she found him. 

"I'm called InuMaigo, my mother is InuKimi, my father is Haiiro, and my brother is Lord of the Western Lands!" He narrowed his eyes at her, "Why do you not recognize your brother in law?"

The wooden planks, stone, and mortar that made up the well shaft spun together as the toddler spoke. 

His words sounded so strange coming from one so young, though he had to of been at least fifty years old to be more than a baby. 

Air constricted in her chest, tightening on the sudden onslaught of a panic attack, "W-what did you just say?" Unsteady feet made her slap the cold stone wall. The world began to swim together, InuMaigo's words brought the world crumbling down around her. 

"Are you I'll, Kagome-sama? What's wrong? Should I go get my brother?" His small voice sounded so far away as he tried to hold her up, to keep her from falling to the bottom of the well. "Kagome-sama!" 

Darkness, shimmering onyx, it came like a sheet over her eyes. The world went silent and the crazy musings of a puppy turned child slipped away like a ghost.


	2. Surprises

Wind danced through the clearing, catching the loose leaves in a mesmerizing swirl of various shades of green. Rin giggled at the sight, choosing to make a game out of the breeze and began chasing the loose foliage as it twisted through the air. 

After living in the Edo village for so many years, she knew it would only be a matter of seconds before the small children of the village would begin chasing after the wind as well. 

Sure enough a gaggle of little hands, tiny feet, and big smiles found their way into the clearing to join in the simple game. Rin saw herself as a sort of protector of all the younger children in the village, she found herself more than qualified, after all she was the only person in the world to have the Lord of the West as a role model.

Looking out at the orange hues painted across the sky at dusk, she could see her Lord flying through the clouds, and knew in her heart that he would be coming to visit her as he did a handful of times throughout the year. 

Throwing her hand in the air and bouncing in place, she waved. If ever there was a hero-worship complex, Rin had it, but Sesshomaru was more than her savior. In her dark honey brown eyes, her Lord somehow wriggled his way into her heart as a sort of father figure, though she'd never dare call him on it.

"Lord Sesshomaru! Lord Sesshomaru, I've missed you!" She called out knowing full well his InuYoukai heritage would have her words right in his ears. The heart inside her chest felt as if it would burst with glee. 

"Rin." Sesshomaru acknowledged his ward with a tilt of his chin, gracefully landing and allowing his energy cloud to dissipate. Her hair, once unkempt with a carefree side swept ponytail, now fell loose down her back, nearly skirting her knobby knees. 

Like the rings of a tree, the inches of her hair showed age. Time passed by slowly for one that lived for thousands of years, but in his ward, he could clearly see the days that'd past since he last saw her.

Inches added to her height and curves to her small body granted her a more feminine physique. Perhaps in his next few visits she would be completely filled out, rounded with the softness only women held. 

Would he be granting her a blessing to wed in the next spring? 

Humans did seem to wed young. Rin only in her thirteenth year…it would not be unheard of for her to marry even now. 

The thought brought up a frustrating emotion he cared not to name.

In her shining eyes he could still see the child, the little slip of a girl, offering him, he who could lift only one clawed finger and strike her dead, a fish. 

He could still envision the tiny ningen skipping around his retainer as the green youkai ran after her in a field of wild flowers. 

He could still hear the giddy babble and laughter fleeing her lips. It was as if time stopped in his memories of his Rin, but before him, time continued. 

She would age as all humans do. Disgust rested on the tip of his tongue, ningens were such a weak species. The distaste quickly removed itself from his thoughts, looking down at his ward. 

Perhaps he could retain her life force if he found a suitable youkai mate for her, then he would not lose her so soon.

Jaken, a green imp youkai of sorts with a beak-like snout and bulging yellow eyes, stumbled next to Sesshomaru's large black boots. 

He fell forward without notice, squawking, "Oh!" Careful as to keep the present, a rectangle wrapped in green shiny paper, above his head and away from the ground -which his face had firmly planted.

His Lord entrusted him to care for the parcel, and he did not want to disappoint his Lord…oh how ashamed he was for nearly sullying the gift. 

"Rin this Sesshomaru has brought you a parcel." Sesshomaru kept a mask of indifference on his angled face, not letting an ounce of emotion mar his ethereal appearance. 

The royal blue crescent and twin magenta stripes on his cheek bones and eyelids stood out against the ivory pallor of his skin.

Rin couldn't help but think her Sesshomaru-sama could quite possibly be a Kami, "Thank you My Lord!" She grinned with a wide set toothy smile, gently unwrapping the package without taking it directly from Jaken's ever trembling hands.

Soft pink fabric gleamed in the light as Rin lifted the kimono from its green wrappings, allowing Jaken to fall completely in a heap of red dust and green paper. 

"I love it!" She giggled, tracing her little fingers over a lighter pink blossom design, before running to show the pretty cloth to the other children of the village.

Content with his ward's approval of her new garment, Sesshomaru side-stepped his retainer. "Jaken." His deep voice full of authority sent an icy chill through the still dirt eating imp. 

"Yes My Lord?" 

Wanting to be rid of the annoyance near his boot, Sesshomaru ordered, "Speak with the old miko, be sure Rin is well in her eyes, be sure all needs are suitably met." 

Jaken popped up from the ground before groveling for being slow, earning a glare from his master, and running in fear for his life toward the village. Satisfied with the green imp away, Sesshomaru turned his senses to other matters.

A strange scent filled the area not far from the clearing, and he was determined to discover its source. Rarely did anything surprise the youkai, but this scent, so familiar yet so unknown, did just that.

InuMaigo nuzzled the side of Kagome's face, trying to will her awake. She scared him by randomly passing out. Her crumpled form laid against the soft dirt. He couldn't understand what he'd said to make her faint. 

Thinking back to the shrine, he really never saw or smelt Sesshomaru-sama, even with his senses dulled by the seal on his youki.

Sniffing the air lightly, he couldn't smell car exhaust or lots of people…it definitely didn't smell like home. The air smelled pure, like nature, like grass, and rain, and dirt… 

The roof of the well house seemed to have disappeared as well, because all the little youkai could see was sunshine and clear blue skies. 

Fear suckled his bones as he recalled his brother telling him a bedtime story, a story filled with an evil hanyou and a jewel of four souls. Didn't Kagome-sama say something about a Shikon no Tama back at the shrine? He'd been so distracted by her scratching his ears. 

Oh how he loved a good petting.

Thinking hard, he tried to remember some of the stories his brother told him, stories he never really considered were more than fairy tales; after all who lived in a world without light bulbs, where a miko priestess could travel through time and slay demons? 

The idea was incredulous, ridiculous even, absolutely absurd! 

There was his brother's voice in his head telling him otherwise…

"Kagome would jump through a well and visit our era. At that time Inuyasha watched over her, and together, along with a band of misfits, they slew demons and collected jewel shards. Kagome you see, was the one to shatter the jewel. I know, you'd think she couldn't be any more reckless than she is now, but I know firsthand she definitely was. The first time we met she stood up to me…"

"She stood up to you big brother?"

"Hai, an untrained novice miko, and I tried to kill her for the insult, I spilled my poison acid all over her!" Sesshomaru's eyes lit up with the memory of battle, letting a drop of poison spill from his flexed claws for emphasis, before slightly frowning, "I am thankful for many surprises in life."

"What do you mean?"

"She survived."

A shiver of fear ran through InuMaigo's spine, what if he accidently went to the feudal era? What if the stories were true? What if Kagome-Sama knew nothing of Sesshomaru-sama? What if he had yet to try and kill her? 

Would his brother try to kill him too? 

All he wanted was to follow her around the shrine, he didn't mean to become a time traveler.

When he got home, if he made it home, his mother would surely kill him. 

The thought made him glance down at where his right arm used to be, and guilt licked at his heart. His mother would be devastated. It would take a good half a century to grow back the appendage if she refused to lend him some of her energy to speed along the process, though he knew it would be a fair punishment for running away. 

Yet again, he didn't mean to run away…just as he didn't mean to travel into the well… 

Things were just so distracting, and he loved a good chase.

A little over a month ago in late April, InuMaigo saw a cat, not just any cat, but a cat that needed put in its place. 

How could he have known it was a witch's cat? How could he have predicted that stupid nasty witch would put a seal on his youki and force him to stay in his puppy form? 

The car hitting him could have been avoided, he had been chasing another cat… 

Perhaps he needed a lesson in resisting temptations. He was sure his mother would give him one when he next saw her.

His aura filled with sadness. What if he never got to see his mother or father again? It would be all his fault for not having enough self control.

With a groan, Kagome opened her eyes, picking herself up off the ground, before the little naked child clung to her out of fear, his arms wrapped tightly around her thigh, keeping her low on the ground."Oh Kagome-Sama! I'm so sorry! Please please tell me we are not in Feudal Japan!" 

His little form trembled, and he seemed more like a child than he had when she saw him the first time. 

Tears swelled in his eyes, but he wouldn't move away from her enough for her to wipe them away. "I'm sorry InuMaigo, but you traveled with me into the Segoku Jidai." Obviously he hadn't meant to, she felt bad for the toddler.

Trying to quell his sadness, she ran her fingers through his long silver hair, gently soothing the pup. 

"It'll be okay, as soon as we climb up the well shaft, I'll jump back down with you and take you home." His golden eyes lit up with hope, and he buried his face in edges of her hair hanging loose at her waist. 

She smelled like his brother's mate but lacked his mixed scent. He realized here and now she wasn't his brother's, but her scent, even though incomplete, calmed him, made him feel safe and protected.

"Kagome-Sama," He whispered, clinging to her side as she climbed the vines leading to the lip of the well. 

"Yes InuMaigo?" Her voice was strained, and he knew he was probably weighing her down too much, but she wouldn't let him climb on his own, muttering something about it going against her motherly instincts. 

He didn't understand, he wasn't really her pup, but perhaps she was just being protective. "Do you know my brother in this era?"

His question made her pause, remembering what shocked her so badly, what shocked her enough to faint. 

Didn't he say Sesshomaru was her mate? Her stomach flipped at the thought. The ice prince and herself a couple? 

She couldn't even imagine it. 

Sure Sesshomaru always caught her eye, he was extremely attractive with rippling muscles and eyes that could quite possibly melt the clothes right off her flesh, but he seemed cold and solitary, he was deadly, the killing perfection; not to mention he would never ever in a million years take a human for a mate.

Sensing her unease, InuMaigo nuzzled her cheek. Instinctively trying to comfort her. Satisfied with the distracted gasp of surprise it pulled from her lips, and happy she did not pull away, he grinned. 

He didn't want her getting upset at the thought of being part of his family. "You do know him don't you Kagome-sama? I hope you aren't sad about the future…you and Sesshomaru-sama really care for each other, and all your…"

She flung her hand over his mouth with wide eyes full of worry, "Do not, InuMaigo, do not say another word about the future. Not to me or anyone else. 

Speaking of things could cause problems, you don't want to change the future, what happens is meant to be. Though I cannot even picture your words coming to life for me... Sesshomaru and I aren't exactly compatible. 

Let's just stay quiet, we are almost to the top of the well." Even if she didn't think that future possible, she couldn't let herself hear it. It could be very bad to alter the past, history was not made to be changed.

InuMaigo's eyes went wide, he hadn't thought about his presence in the past changing the future, then again now that she brought it up… What if this was supposed to happen? 

He didn't have much time to process the thought as a pale clawed hand shot out towards Kagome, ready to rip into her shoulder, her scream deafening in his sensitive ears. 

Faster than lightning, with his youkai reflexes, InuMaigo pushed her away and intercepted the claws, shocked to find the pearlescent razors were attached to an intense murderous golden glare he hadn't seen since he tracked mud through his brother's living room.

Magical blue energy sprung up from the depths of the well, swirling around Kagome before she could even register the events taking place. 

Her blue eyes caught a glimpse of InuMaigo hurling over the lip of the well before emerald light stole her sight. 

"No!" She needed him with her. 

She needed to take him back to the future, but her hands were empty, her side left cold without the heated body of a small child pressed to her hip, she'd be returning alone. 

The weight of the well's magic seemed lighter than usual, the blue glow almost transparent as it spit her out beneath the familiar wooden roof of her time. 

Dirt clung to her jeans and the palms of her clammy hands as anxiety clung to her chest.

"This day is just not letting up…" Worry filled her breathy whisper as her brain throbbed in her skull. 

The Kamis were not willing to give her time to think over anything it seemed. She couldn't just leave InuMaigo in the past to mull over her thoughts, what if he blurted out the future to Sesshomaru or Inuyasha or…or well anybody?! 

With her muscles protesting the entire way, she climbed to the top of the well, determined to go back to the Sengoku Jidai immediately. 

Wincing as the wood splintered in her fleshy hands, she didn't want to take the time to go slow paced. 

Every second counted. 

Youkia or not, the toddler still needed protection. 

Feeling like a failure, she flung herself back down the well shaft.

No light spilled around her. 

No magic engulfed her. 

Nothing. 

Tears slipped down her cheeks as gravity pulled her down. 

The well had never failed her before… So many different emotions flashed in her deep cerulean eyes; fear, sadness, worry, pain…aching despair. Would this fall kill her? 

The cold hard ground bounced her skull, blasting her vision with spots of bright colors.

"Kagome!" Souta's voice echoed through the well house as he leaned over the wooden lip, staring down at his sister's crumpled form, "Kagome!" 

Blood spilled from beneath her head, looking like slick oil through her raven tendrils of hair. 

Dashing through the doors, he screamed for his mother to call for an ambulance.

"State your fountainhead." Sesshomaru ordered the young pup that smelled much like his mother. 

His nose could not tell a lie, and even before the whelp said, "InuKimi," he knew she had somehow managed to produce another son right under his nose. 

The pup held the mark of the west above his brows and the trademark silver tresses of the Inu line, even still, he could smell the difference in the small child's blood.

There were also the strange words his sensitive ears picked up from the bowels of the well to consider. 

The pup had been conversing with the strange miko… what's this? With a sniff to the air, he was surprised for the second time in one day, the miko had disappeared, she was no longer inside the well shaft.

"Half-breed, you will tell this Sesshomaru of how you came to be, to where the priestess vanished, and of what you were discussing before my arrival." With his interest piqued, he couldn't quell the urge to gather information, despite the sudden annoyance boiling his blood at his lack of knowledge.

InuMaigo stood his ground, only slightly afraid of his brother's past self. 

Even the future Sesshomaru disliked the taste of fear on his pack mates, and he wasn't a coddler like Kagome-sama. 

Before he lost all courage, he puffed up his chest and decided to be brave, the future rested in his small claws. "Before you start demanding things of me Sesshomaru-sama, I have a request."

Noticing his slightly raised brow, InuMaigo continued, "I am InuMaigo, second son to InuKimi, and your half-brother. As you can see, He gestured haughtily to his missing arm, "I require some assistance or Mother will pitch a fit when I return, it is your duty as my family and Alpha to aid me. Do you accept your responsibilities or forfeit your honor?" He mimicked his brother's stoic expression, suddenly remembering all the lessons he had on controlling his emotions. 

Chuckling to himself as his brother narrowed his glare, zeroing in on his carefully controlled face, he knew he struck a nerve, but his brother was nothing if not honorable; he could use it to his advantage. 

Narrowing his own golden eyes, he wondered if his brother started training him in diplomacy early just for this meeting.

Anger settled in Sesshomaru's gut as he resisted the need to cut this new edition to his family tree down, "You are not of this Sesshomaru's pa..." 

The whelp had the nerve to interrupt, "Oh but I am big brother, I'm part of your pack in the future." No deception sifted through the words, his nose would have picked up the bitter scent. 

"Explain." Standing his ground, the pup lifted his chin, "Will you help me? You must be willing to listen to my words and act accordingly or the future is in peril. Plus if the other bedtime stories you told me are correct, then your fate is also in peril, so you must be willing to do as you are told…"

"Hn." Sesshomaru had to resist the urge to roll his eyes, no one would be telling him how to act. Not even his council members could get away alive after making a demand of him. With his decision made, he turned toward Inuyasha Forrest, "Come." 

Hopefully this brother would prove to be more useful than the abomination his father created, though his life would be far too boring if the Kami's granted him a sedated family member.


	3. Healing and Mud

From his place at his sister's still sleeping side, Souta stared tight lipped at Inuyasha's red clad form just outside the room. 

  
Yellow light poured from wide rectangle skylights in the ceiling, casting an ugly malaise pastiness over her fleshy cheeks. 

  
Weak. That's how she looked beneath the thin blue sheet. With too many machines to count plugged into her frail body. With needles and sticky pads. The machines whirred and buzzed as they kept track of her vitals, assuring everyone she'd be fine in the end. 

  
She didn't look fine with sweat trickling along her brow and her naturally plump lips clenched in a thin line.

  
Quickly he wiped the sweat away with a damp cloth. His eyes darted to her ear, half expecting blood to begin dripping along the smooth angle of her neck, branching out like a growing crimson tree as it had when he found her crumpled in the bowels of the well. 

  
As he peered grimly down at the side of her pale face, she looked alive, hot, sweaty, and tired, but alive and healing. A breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding exploded from his chest. Relief washed through his veins and he let his eyes close for a moment.

  
Inuyasha said her miko energy would keep her alive. 

  
The doctors called her an oddity, she'd cracked her skull, and in any normal circumstance that would mean likely death and definite surgery, but Kagome was anything but normal. 

  
They explained that her body was healing quite quickly, and she would be well enough to go home in a few days. Despite her unmoving form breathing lightly in the hospital bed, she was not in a coma, but more like a sort of hibernating sleep using all her energy to heal her broken crown.

  
His hand hovered over hers until he gave in to his need for comfort, and gripped his fingers tightly around her still palm. 

  
Her hand twitched in his grasp, so he held tighter, trying to will his strength into her.

  
Since he was just a baby, His big sister was always strong, safe, smart…his protector. If he needed help with anything, as soon as she found out, she'd jump all over it, doing whatever it took to make everything better. 

  
That's the type of person Kagome was, and he knew it. She'd never let anyone suffer.

  
Like glee incarnate, she lit up the world. The saddest person on Earth stood no match for his sister. But lying there amidst the humming machines, unmoving, and quieter than she'd ever been... with her closed eyes tilted in pain. 

  
She had never looked so frail in his eyes. He refused to leave her side.

  
Sometimes he'd sit in the large stiff pink chair next to the bed, but often he'd just stand over her, like a guard, refusing to leave even when the nurses threatened to call security as visiting hours were over. 

  
Souta would not let his sister wake alone.

  
He would do whatever it took to make her safe and happy, he would stay by her side until she woke. The well reopened, he wanted to be the one to tell her, Inuyasha be damned, he wanted her first smile to be seen by him, her little brother. 

  
It was his turn to be the one to make everything better if only for a moment. His turn to be her protector.

  
Out in the hall in hushed tones, the Hanyou and the rest of the family spoke of the Bone Eater's Well, the well that caused so much trouble in their lives. "I'm not sure I understand Inuyasha, why wouldn't the well let Kagome through, you got through fine…"

  
Inuyasha cut her off with a slight snarl to his tone, making his voice gravelly, not that he was mad at anyone but himself, "The others seem to think it had something to do with her using it too soon after travelling to the Feudal Era," shame bit at him, filling him up like a water skin, he failed her, he let her get hurt. "…it needed to recharge…or something like that. I'm not an expert on time travel!" His voice grew rougher with each word. 

  
He was tired of explaining the same thing over and over again. 

  
Tired of being in the stupid chemical filled hospital. 

  
Tired of the emotions wreaking havoc in his chest.

  
Miroku would have been charming, explaining all the thoughts and ideas on the matter. He would have taken the time and energy to clarify, but Inuyasha, he knew he wasn't charming. 

  
He was not going to try and win over Kagome's mother with ideas they weren't even sure about, and he was not going to try and be suave to do it.

  
The pungent smells throughout the building burned his sensitive nose, and barely covered the stench of blood and death. 

  
His head ached with unwanted emotions and smells. 

  
"Kagome…" He whispered so lightly that only he could hear her name on his lips.

  
Fear and worry…guilt…he didn't deal with those emotions well as they crashed through his gut. 

  
Everything in his being told him it was his fault that Kagome cracked her skull, if he had been there… 

  
Clenching his jaw, he let loose a growl. 

  
His claws fisted at his sides. 

  
Pain clearly etched itself in his face, and he cursed himself for not possessing the resolve that his full blooded Inuyoukai brother kept so easily in place no matter the situation.

  
Not wanting to be anywhere near the family until he could restrain the sadness threatening his tough exterior, he bolted out an open window at the end of the hall.

  
Her mother shot his retreating form a small sad smile before walking wordlessly back into the hospital room. 

  
Jii-san groaned, shaking his head and rubbing the bridge of his nose, wondering why his granddaughter had ever been smitten with such a numbskull.

  
Following the Lord, InuMaigo lifted his nose into the air, taking in as much as his little lungs could hold. 

  
His brother glided pretentiously five feet ahead of him with his long silver tresses dancing like a star lit waterfall trickling to his boot clad heels.

  
A gross looking toady imp demon thing kept squawking next to him about how awesome he was, like he needed more of a big head...

  
InuMaigo rolled his eyes and decidedly ignored the two ahead of him. He was far more interested in the world around him than his haughty brother and his weird friend.

  
Crisp pure unpolluted air wisped around the small child as he sucked in yet another deep succulent breath. 

  
Pine, the scent ebbed and flowed as they walked through the forest, it reminded him of his father, fresh and clean, yet demanding. 

  
The air was so rich, filled with the smooth scents of plum blossoms and hinoki trees, fresh mosses and young grass, dirt…oh the wonderful smell of dirt there were so many levels to the scent it produced. 

  
Mineral rich, freshly turned, muddy, sandy, bug infested…Oh how he wanted to roll around in it, all of it, even in his human form, naked…

  
That's when he saw it, the largest puddle of mud he'd ever seen, and he bolted, unable to resist.

  
Crunch…crack…snap…It was worse than Jaken's high pitched squawking. With each sound, Sesshomaru had to fight the incessant twitch in his claws, begging to rip through the flesh of the whelp five paces behind him. 

  
The pup had been taught absolutely nothing about stealth, and the sounds his heavy feet produced were driving the youkai to the edge of sanity. 

  
Just when he found himself ready to tear the brat to pieces, the heavy crunchy sounds trailed away.

  
"Jaken, find the whelp." His green beak opened to begin a spew of babble Sesshomaru had no want for hearing, "Do not speak, just go." 

  
The tone of his voice left no room to argument and promised severe pain if ignored.


	4. Friendship

Giddily, InuMaigo's yellow youki energy swirled as he changed forms from beast to boy and back again, splashing in the thick brown mud like so much chocolate frosting. 

  
Pink tongue darting from his smiling lips, curiously, and because its smell was sweet, he lapped up the gritty muck from the side of his face and grimaced, 

  
"Yep not frosting!" The words came out as tiny barks as he switched forms yet again. His little body became furred and in a quick, slightly painful, snap he found himself as a lolloping puppy fur matted with muck.

  
Bouncing in the sticky goop, he couldn't help the lonely feeling in his chest.

  
He missed his family, not used to playing alone. Sadness came and went in a flash as the massive puddle began to vibrate; a welcomed distraction. 

  
Bubbles fizzed from the muddy depths, and he couldn't quell the desire to pounce on each and every one, bathing himself in fresh layers of grime with each bound. 

  
He continued his quest to conquer while switching forms mid-pounce.

  
Giggling spilled from each popped glob, like a little girl being tickled. "Where are you?" InuMaigo laughed, caught up in the joys of being covered in slime and goop like a thick slick second skin, caring less that he was still indeed void of any clothes.

  
If only his mother could see him now, bare and covered in sludge, she'd scream and scold him with a shake of one long red polished claw. 

  
The laughter grew louder, shaking him from his longing. "Where are you?" He asked once more with a pop of a rather large mud bubble.

  
The mud here smelled so much better than any mud he'd ever smelt, like fleshy ripened fruits and sweet brown sugar. 

  
"Everywhere, Silly!" The voice cooed seeming to come from every direction, high pitched and lofty.

  
The pup glanced around the clearing, suddenly painfully aware his brother and the weirdo were nowhere in sight, and neither was the girl. 

  
"Show yourself." He growled, his voice losing its innocence, a mask twisted on his face, claws erect and poised to fight.

  
Crying, it came like a smooth sad melody ripe with despair and followed with a whimper of desolation, 

  
"Please don't be mad, don't leave!" It was then he realized that her words came from the mud popping with sound, and before he could find anything to say, a throaty squawk screeched. His spine went ridged and his pointed ears ached.

  
"Whelp!" The bulbous green creature scrambled closer, careful not to sully his bare feet in the slimy muck puddle, "Get out of that filth! Do you wish to dishonor Lord Sesshomaru like that filthy hanyou?!" 

  
His giant juicy yellow eyes blinked wide as the mud began to recede to a small growing form way too close to the pup for his hide's safety. If something were to happen to the brat, his Lord would surely have it fresh from his bones.

  
Grime oozed vertically into the air, forming a giant mass of blobby mud monster, and a wide soggy mouth from which sludge seeped and oozed. "You will leave us you ugly monstrosity!" 

  
The tiny bubbly voice of a little girl morphed into something far deeper, and resonated through the forest. Birds and squirrels chirped and chattered, scurrying away to safety high in the canopy.

  
A tremor of fear ran through the green youkai's form, but he held up his staff, squawking, "You are no match for the staff of two heads!" As the staff rose into the air, massive mucky spit balls crashed over him until he ran for his Lord. 

  
He'd allow his Lord the pleasure of killing him if he so chose but not that disgraceful blob demon.

  
"What are you?!" InuMaigo shouted with his messed claws extended toward the mass, wishing he hadn't lost his right arm as he tried to keep the fear from his face and eyes. 

  
White light spilled over the mass, and suddenly where the giant mucky monster had been stood a little girl. 

  
"Woah!" InuMaigo's pupils dilated. She looked like the embodiment of hot cocoa. Skin like molten caramel, eyes the color of rich dark chocolate, and hair wild and messed like white foam atop her head. She glowed a light pink youki.

  
A red flush covered her face, and she quickly turned around, hiding her eyes, "I'm a deinei youkai. Can you please put on some clothes?"

  
Suddenly InuMaigo remembered being naked, and while he loved not having any clothes on, and he didn't care if boys saw him…His entire body turned pink…this girl, he did not want to be around a girl naked!

  
Turning to leave, he stopped mid stride when she screamed, crying again, "Don't leave!" 

  
Frozen in place, the pup groaned, completely unprepared for such a situation. 

  
"I'm lost, don't leave me alone…" Her small voice filled with sadness, it crept up on him like a shroud of misery, and his feet refused to take him away. 

  
He knew the wrenching feeling of being lost and alone.

  
The beast inside him growled, "I'll protect you," the words spewing from his lips without even a thought on his part. 

  
Never before had such a thing happened, his natural unconscious control had always been enough to keep his beast at bay, and now he found himself wishing he would have paid more attention to his training for it seemed his beast would do as it pleased.

  
"You grant the female your protection, pup?" Seemingly out of nowhere, his older brother's voice, just slightly lilting with amusement and annoyance, met his flushed ears.

  
With a huff, InuMaigo clenched and unclenched the claws at his sides. "My beast insists, the vow has been said, I am honor bound to do so." 

  
Despite the urge to run into the flowering bushes and hide his nakedness from the deinei youkai, he instead, much to her red faced dismay, took a stance protectively in front of her.

  
She spun to face away once more.

  
"So be it. Do not leave this area."

  
Ten long minutes passed, silent but for the shuffling of tiny embarrassed feet from side to side. The small Inu glared straight, staring at the thick green leaves of the forest ahead trying to keep his mind from thinking about the awkward situation he now found himself in, all because his beast had a big mouth. 

  
He now had two things to work on, control being the basis of both his problems; resisting temptation and ruling his beast.

  
A sharp pain throbbed in his skull, and he wondered if this was the 'migraine' his mother talked about with so much frustration marring her usually happy tone.

  
"What is your name?" The small mud demon asked, stealing his attention from the trees. Her eyes were glued to her toe swirling in the dirt.

  
"InuMaigo, son of Lady InuKimi and Lord Haiiro," Pride filled him up as he sucked in a deep breath, puffing up his pale chest, before he tilted his silver top and glanced at the back of her pink tinged head. "What is your name?"

  
She also seemed proud of her lineage, her back straightened, and her pointed chin became parallel with the ground, "My name is Moyashi, daughter of General Onmitsu of the Western Lord's Army." 

  
Turning her head over her shoulder, she met his gleaming amber eyes, flushing slightly pinker as she caught his gaze, "What affiliation do you have to the West? I have heard only the Lord has a crescent above his brow."

  
Not sure if Sesshomaru would be angry if he told her his time travelling tale, he merely averted his gaze, muttering, "I am a relative of Sesshomaru-sama."

  
Smiling, she nodded before turning to watch a turquoise butterfly flutter around the clearing, "Once you clothe yourself, I'd like to play again. Not many of the children at the shiro enjoy playing with a mud demoness, but if you are staying there, perhaps we may become friends."

  
Sesshomaru found the pups back to back, pink cheeked, in the clearing where he'd left them, and tossed a satchel filled with clothes at the naked Inu. "Bathe and dress, I will protect the girl while you do so."

  
The pup narrowed his eyes, scenting mischief in the wind, but took the gift graciously, slightly bowing, "Thank you Sesshomaru-sama," and ran into the bushes he'd been eyeing longingly for almost half an hour. His nose told him there was a stream nearby.

  
Centuries, he'd lived for hundreds of years, his senses unparalleled to any other's, but Sesshomaru's nose could not place the flavor of his mother's second offspring. 

  
Later, in the secrecy of his fortress's walls where no unwanted ears could hear, he would ask the whelp, but with such an opportunity to test out the strength of the child, his curiosity would not allow him to pass it up.

  
His golden eyes ran over the small female before him with a note of familiarity, and he lightly sniffed the air trying to place her sweet sugary scent. 

  
It donned on him, she was the daughter of a spy in his army, their scent held much of the same aroma but they looked nothing alike. 

  
Catching her attention with a stern muttering of, "Girl," He gave in to curiosity.

  
In a quick bow, she lowered her head, frothy locks sticking out like an immobile dollop of cream while fear and anxiety rippled through her aura, "Hai Milord?"

  
"You are indeed General Onmitsu's daughter, are you not? Why are you not accompanied by a guard?" Her father held a respectable position in his army, surely one so honorable in his duties to his Lord were also honorable in other duties as well.

  
Face flushed, Moyashi knew she could not lie to her Lord, there would be no honor in trying to deceive anyone really, but the Lord of the West would surely kill her for the insult. "I um…" Fingers trembling as she wrung her hands, "Well…I…I kind of ran away…or well not ran away," Desperately trying to find the right words before the Lord grew impatient and just lopped off her head. 

  
She let her tears fall, tears she'd been trying to keep in check for a day and a half, shame licking over her aura like a thickly coiled snake.

  
Slightly narrowing his eyes at the tiny demoness, he pressed his lips together. She wasn't his child to prod for more answers, "You will return to the shiro."

  
As if his order had been a question, she mumbled, "Hai," before sitting in the dirt, with her face buried in her hands, sobbing.

  
"Haori and hakamas?" InuMaigo glared at the clothes he'd been given, not ever wearing such ridiculous things before.

  
Holding up a strange length of white silk with weird straps, he wasn't sure what to do with it. Perhaps it was a scarf of some sort.

  
Usually he would wear underwear with his clothes, but he couldn't figure out what in the bag was even supposed to be underwear. 

  
There were too many sets of kimono, or maybe they were layers, and he couldn't find a use for them, so, with a frown, he slipped the blue hakamas over his thin legs and drowned his arms into the white haori's sleeves, and, after eyeing the pink length with immense disgust, tied it tight with something he vaguely recalled as an obi from the only time his mother had ever even attempted to get him into traditional garb.

  
God he despised pink, and kimonos, and haoris, and hakamas, he even disliked the silk fabric. It was too smooth. Too slippery.

  
Shoving his feet into a pair of thick socks and black boots, he groaned. 

  
Comfort had yet to be invented. He couldn't wait for the chance to wear jeans and a t-shirt, or better yet nothing at all in the solitude of his own bedroom, with little responsibilities and no beast offering girls his protection. 

  
His eyes widened, the girl…something felt wrong.

  
Despair, her despair filled with disgrace and salty tears, it perked up his beast, his natural instincts to protect her and end such suffering.

  
As he ran back to the clearing with a speed he'd never had much use for until now, except cat chasing, his eyes caught sight of Moyashi's crumpled form on the ground. 

  
Her face was in her hands as she bawled her eyes out. 

  
"What did you do to her!" Growling, he shot his alpha an angry snarl, his beast disliking the scent of pain and sadness marring the girl's rich candied fragrance.

  
"Hush pup, you have yet to earn the right to pledge an oath of protection, however," Sesshomaru waved a hand to his side, and InuMaigo noticed the usually screeching retainer had a gag in his mouth and a frantic look in his bulbous eyes, "I will allow you to fight Jaken to earn the right to make such vows."

  
Surprisingly the pup's amber eyes looked pleased, and a fearsome smile spread over his face. 

  
The pup no longer looked innocent and reckless, but held a sense of easy violence, and began an attack on the imp youkai almost immediately with deadly silence in his movements.

  
Using the staff of two heads as a flame thrower, the imp youkai, filled with dread and fear, ran around the clearing in a frantic circle, his large eyes darted every which way. 

  
Muffled screeches bled through the small area, and Sesshomaru decided to use the gag as a permanent accessory for the green youkai.

  
He watched the young one with interest as InuMaigo easily kept his retainer on the run. The pup was like a ghost, quick and unseeing, and he toyed with the retainer like a cat with a mouse. 

  
His amber eyes consumed by white fire, blazed as he sped through the air. Sesshomaru eyes widened a fraction as he realized the pup's feet were no longer visible.

  
Perhaps he hadn't given the pup enough credit, the little one couldn't have been more than seventy-five seasons old. He was young, small enough to be a human toddler but deadly still even by youkai standards.

  
Sesshomaru flicked his wrist, putting an end to the fight with his yellow energy whip. He could no longer catch the pup's scent, and was beginning to have an idea as to what the little halfling could possibly be. "You've earned the right to protect the girl if you wish."

  
Sucking in a deep breath, InuMaigo closed his eyes and bowed to his brother before taking a protective stance in front of the girl. 

  
Moyashi stared at him in awe, with wide chocolate eyes and slightly parted lips. His spine went ridged as she flung her arms around him and giggled a quick almost silent thank you. 

  
Tilting his head to the side as she pulled away, he furrowed his brows, "You are very strange."

  
One moment the girl would cry and the next she'd laugh, the two tones of her voice so utterly different and yet the same. 

  
His statement made her giggle more, but he decided to ignore it, she was confusing and now his beast had him stuck with her.

  
"Sesshomaru-sama?" The pup asked, approaching his brother with an uncomfortable gait, unsure of this new version of the brotherhe'd known all his life.

  
"Hn?" Now there was a familiar answer, and he found it gave him a little more courage to ask his question.

  
"Did I fight well?" He couldn't help but seek approval from his big brother, and his eyes gleamed with nervous anxiety as Sesshomaru stopped mid-stride to give him a lengthy gaze.

  
Casting his still gagged retainer a heated glare, he spoke with no emotion at all, "Jaken did not pose a threat, do not consider it a fight."

  
Not sure how to take the cryptic answer, the pup hung back to walk beside Moyashi. "You did very well Inu." She grinned when a small smile broke on his lips, and whispered, "I think we shall be great friends." 

  
With a nod, InuMaigo sighed, not sure if he wanted a girl as a friend. She already proved to be very confusing, but she was kind of nice, and fun to play with in her youkai form.


	5. Pups of the Future

Heavy rains ushered Sesshomaru to secure a small cave for the young ones. Fire crackled. Smoke stirred. Fresh squirrels roasted on spits while Jaken complained.

InuMaigo followed his brother to the far corner of the cavern, keeping Moyashi in his line of sight. She sat beside the squawking toad. Safe enough. “Do ears bleed if voices are shrill for a long enough period of time?” 

“On occasion.” Sesshomaru launched a pebble at his retainer’s skull, making both of the young ones giggle. “Jaken. Quiet.” 

He yelped. Bulbous eyes bulged, “Ye...yes My Lord!”

Relaxing against the stone wall, Sesshomaru closed his eyes, “Feed the girl.” A headache had formed right between his eyes.

“Yes, Lord Sesshomaru! This humble servant will take care of the filthy mud creature...” 

A small but angry growl chilled Jaken to the bone. “Do not insult her.” InuMaigo's voice held the promise of a bite.

“I apologize Inumaigo-sama!” Jaken yelped as another pebble flung into his skull. 

Sesshomaru's eyes slid back open. He watched the interaction with interest. The pup did well to put his retainer in his place, though Sesshomaru hadn't anticipated for him to pick up his habit of throwing stones as a way to do it. “We have much to discuss whelp.”

InuMaigo huffed, blowing his bangs up out of his line of sight. “I’m not sure what I can say.” 

“Hn. Sit.” Sesshomaru took a place against the cool stone wall. The pup sat. He fumbled with the loose sleeve of his kimono. “Do you wish for the return of your limb?”

“Yes!” Determination set the young one’s jaw. “Mother will kill me if she finds out, Sesshomaru please help me.” 

He studied his Mother’s offspring. Loud, squirmy, and young. Acceptably diplomatic. “This Sesshomaru will help you.” 

“Really?” His eyes ignited a yellow gold. 

Sesshomaru watched as the glow filled in the darkness.  _ What are you? _ “There are conditions.”

InuMaigo wriggled in his seat, “What kind of conditions?” 

“You will tell This Sesshomaru the information you possess.” His youki draped around them, pulling the pup in closer. The cave would be secure enough from prying ears. 

“Um...” InuMaigo chewed his thumb claw. What could he say? “Your Mate likes... haikus?”

His brows rose, a small smirk twisting his features. A Mate. “Who is she?” And she likes haikus. A plus.

InuMaigo listened to his brother’s heartbeat quicken and face-palmed. Maybe he shouldn’t have brought that up. “What if it changes the future?”

“Hn.” He rolled the idea over in his mind. His decision remained firm. Resolute. “It will not.” 

“How can you be so sure?”

Pinning the pup with a glare, he flicked him right on the nose, “Do not question your Alpha, Welp.”

“Ouch!” InuMaigo rubbed his nose and whimpered. “I love my family, so if you mess it up, I will hate you forever.”

Sesshomaru resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Pups... “This Sesshomaru will entertain this future you speak of, now answer.” 

“Fine.” He grumbled, digging his claws into the stone at his side. “What do you want to know?”

“Tell me of My Heir.” There must be one.

InuMaigo huffed, “He is a pain in the butt.” 

Sesshomaru resisted the urge to flick him again. “Is he strong?” 

“Yeah, I mean he brags about fighting all the time. No one can really touch him now that he's an adult, not even you.”

“That is... doubtful.”

The pup’s eyes glittered up at him, full of excitement. Hero-worship. “No! It’s true, he just sort of zaps a barrier in place and that’s all he needs if he wants to be alone. I heard some stories about when he was a teenager. Ka...his mom says he was really hard to ground. All the older ones can do it.”

Ka...? “Who is This Sesshomaru’s Mate?”

InuMaigo whimpered, “Please don’t make me say her name. I don’t think you get along very well right now. Let me tell you other things first...” Maybe he’d forget to ask again.

_ I know her. _ Sesshomaru narrowed his gaze, but acquiesced. “Is This Sesshomaru...content?”

“Oh yeah! Loads of contentment, might even say happiness. You and ...uh, your Mate, have tons of pups, and everyone talks about how you can’t keep your hands to yourself. Mother said that she has more grandchildren than she has room for so we are building on another wing.” 

He noticed his brother's scent change and his smile widened, “And you love me loads too, we have lots of fun together. Father is gone pretty often and when Mother goes with him I stay at your house. We have bonfires and go hunting. Everyone tries to outdo each other. Last time we all let Nishimaru win, he tried really hard, but we are all older and better. You said it’d be good for his confidence.”

“Who is Nishimaru?”

“Ah, he is your second youngest. He is really little, but his claws are sharp, and he bites really hard. He can already make a transportation cloud. I think it’s unfair, but Mother says we all have our talents.”

The pup went on and on about strange games, tag and hide and go seek. His eyes glowed with his memories. Silly, childish tales regaling simple triumphs. Pride in his Pack, their Pack. The young one filled in a world of unfamiliar closeness. Trust. 

It did not sound altogether unpleasant.

“You are proud of your Pack.” 

InuMaigo radiated loyalty, “Ours’ is the best.” 

Sesshomaru smirked. His little brother inherited their Mother’s arrogance. She was never wrong. “So it will be.” 

The rich scent of roasted meat filled the cavern. “Go eat. We will continue this discussion once your belly becomes full.” 

Cool wall met the back of his skull. Time to relax. Think. Nurse his headache. He closed his eyes to the world, listening to the quiet chatter of the young ones and the shrill scolding of his retainer. The old toad doted on Rin like a Mother Hen, now it seemed Jaken had found two more children to nag.

Good. 

Such services would prove to be useful in the future... if the welp’s words proved true.

“Hn.” His claws thrummed over his knee. An onna he  _ knew.  _ The riddle left no answers. What demoness did he know capable of producing such vast and skillful progeny? 

None. 

The scent of food became less and less until it was no more than a trace. “Pup,” He ordered, “You’ve more secrets to reveal.”

InuMaigo pouted, but didn’t complain. His feet shuffled. “What do you want to know?” Crossing his legs, he plopped back down beside his brother. 

“How far into the future do you exist?”

He shrugged, “Probably centuries.”

“Who is your Father?” 

“Well...” InuMaigo chewed leftover meat from his claw, “His name is Lord Haiiro, but you wouldn’t know him yet... at least I don’t think you do...”

“Hn. It does not ring a bell.” The pup’s eyes were glowing again. Like a torch. “What manner of youkai is he?”

“Many things, Mother says he was once a spirit, but dogs aren’t meant to be ruled. I’m not old enough to know the story.”

Interesting. “Hn.”

“Will you fix my arm now?” The pup yawned, showing off his milk teeth. 

“As soon as you tell This Sesshomaru the name of my future Mate.”

With a huff, InuMaigo grumbled, too tired to resist any longer, “Fine. Her name is Kagome.” He watched as his brother’s eyes widened a fraction, and his breath stilled. 

Sesshomaru narrowed his gaze, “The Miko?”

“Yeah, that’s the one. She’s pretty great, you like her alot. And she makes really yummy food.” InuMaigo’s eyelids drooped, little body sagging. 

The Lord’s lips barely moved, “My pups... are hanyou...” 

InuMaigo waved his hand around tiredly, something he’d seen his Mother do countless times when he'd ask her questions while snuggling. “Naahh,” He yawned, “they are more Inu with a little kick...or a lot of kick.” He yawned again, blinking bleary eyes. It was way past his bedtime. “Sesshomaru, I am tired.” 

Sesshomaru couldn’t let the pup sleep, not without clarification. InuMaigo sat there, not much to look at, yet intelligence gleamed through his yellow hued eyes. “The pups are not hanyou?” 

“Listen,” The pup grumbled. “None of them are like any hanyou as you'd define the term. They aren’t like Inuyasha. None of them need a sword to keep their blood in check or anything else.” 

“You know of Inuyasha?” 

“Of course, now let me finish. I  **need** to go to sleep.” His chubby cheeks and small pouty frown were almost endearing. 

Sesshomaru nodded, “So be it, continue.” 

“All of your pups have strong reiki  _ and _ strong youki. It’s...weird...but they all have really cool abilities.” The smell of wood smoke and the warmth of his full belly were lulling him to find a comfortable place to curl up. 

His stubborn brother didn’t seem satisfied with any of the information he threw out. InuMaigo huffed, “What do you want to hear?” Again nothing from his brother. No questions, just a curious stare. “I don’t know what you want me to say Sesshomaru-sama.” 

“What are they?”

InuMaigo's palm caught his slumping head, and he groaned. His elder brother was dense.

“Pack. They aren’t flawed. Mother says they are  _ balanced _ , whatever that means. So not hanyou. Inuyasha is a hanyou and his different types of blood fight. Now,” He closed his eyes, claws curled into a little fist at his side, “I’m tired. Are you going to help with my arm? Or not?”

“Come here.” The pup felt warm in Sesshomaru's arms as he drew him in. 

Rin had fit into Sesshomaru’s lap like that once. Curled in a ball. Tiny. Fragile. 

He ran his claws through InuMaigo's grey hair. The little welp’s aura welcomed his own. He smelled faintly of pine as he snuggled into Sesshomaru’s Moko Moko. “Sleep young one.” 

“Thank you, Big Brother," He murmured as he closed his eyes. 

Sesshomaru gently helped the pup’s youki along, coaxing his limb to begin anew while keeping the young one without pain. The tale InuMaigo told felt foreign. Impossible. Highly unlikely...and enticing. His young would be something  _ other. New. Powerful. _

He closed his eyes. 

Deep breaths brought him back to the calm he prefered. 

The storm outside picked up. Thunder clapped. Burning wood crackled as the fire grew hungrier. 

Jaken shuffled in the darkness. His webbed feet scattered small stones as he shoved fresh wood into the depths of the fire. 

Light mewls breathed from the small girl. His retainer burrowed beside her, returning to a light sleep with soft snoring. Slow heart beats. Harsh howls of the wind outside. Sounds of familiarity, normalcy, created a peaceful pit in the core of his soul. A calming center.

Composure. His headache eased.

He thought of the Miko. The Hanyou’s Priestess... Kagome. Placing a vision of her at the epicenter of his future rippled the soothing waters of his soul.

Raindrops fall alone

A Kami’s breath blows them closer

I know not when Spring will bloom

Whimpering interrupted his thoughts. Thadum. Thadum. InuMaigo’s heart hammered. Sweat dotted his brow. Warmth cascaded through the tips of Sesshomaru's fingers as he petted. Protection. Pack. Gently, his youki soothed frayed nerves. “You are safe, Pup.” 

Sighing, the boy settled in his lap. 

Brows unfurrowed. 

Claws relaxed. 

Sesshomaru continued to run his fingers through baby soft hair. Keeping the young one calm as his Father had once done for himself. 

Limbs were tricky. Pups required assistance to regenerate significant losses. Usually a Mother or Father coaxed the pup’s youki, however in this instance, Sesshomaru found the role suitable for himself. 

He helped him heal until the limb finished regenerating. Soft fingers met his palm. Perfection. As Sesshomaru withdrew his youki, the pup’s brow creased. 

Instinct pulled a sound from his chest that had been solely reserved for Rin. 

Night terrors brought her into his arms on more than one occasion. Damn wolves. 

The first time he felt her trembling arms close around his neck, tears streaming down her innocent face, a soft vibration hummed from inside his chest. 

An eruption of pacifying sound. Disturbing, at the time. 

Sesshomaru never knew nurturing to be one of his skills until that moment. 

He excelled at it. 

Another useful skill. 

InuMaigo mewled and curled against MokoMoko. Yet another soothed young one. Looking down at the small boy, Sesshomaru knew he couldn’t allow him to remain separated from his Mother. Not when he could fix the issue. If the pup came from the future, he will return him. 

\---------------------------------

By morning the storms had turned into clear blue skies. The young ones ran circles around Jaken as he walked.

Eventually, the imp flopped onto the ground with his tongue lolling out the side, and his bulbous eyes dazed.

InuMaigo poked at him with a stick.

Moyashi leaned forward on the balls of her feet, "Do you think we've killed him?" 

"It's hard to tell, he's always smelled dead to me."

Sesshomaru paused at the lead.

It seemed his retainer was not cut out for more than one child at a time.

"Jaken."

It seemed to be all the revival he needed, "Y-yes, My Lord!?" He squawked as he hopped back up off the ground.

"Return AhUn to the shiro." 

"B-but we do not even know where they are grazing- I mean I'll find them and return them expediently!" His little legs could be surprisingly fast.

Sesshomaru caught a familiar scent. Amber gaze on the clouds.

His brow cocked as he watched the usually serene demoness drop from the sky in a flurry of hot pink youki and throw herself around the welp. 

InuYoukai left emotions for private displays, and for rare occasions, until they didn’t. Sesshomaru watched his Mother with a careful curiosity. Her golden eyes glistened with unshed tears as her arms captured the pup. 

“I’ve dreamt of you, pup of my future.” Thick with warmth and feeling, formalities dropped, her voice sounded like that of a new Mother and not. 

A sadness lined the edge of her voice. It flickered within her aura as it draped the pair in a purple sheen. 

Sesshomaru averted his eyes, choosing to leave them the moment. A scene of raw emotions had him walking away, toward home. 

“Lord Sesshomaru?” The small voice of the girl offered a pause in his steps. 

“Come.” As much as he wanted answers, it was clear that the pup indeed belonged to another time. His Mother and her pup required intimacy in this situation, time to allow connection. 

Moyashi fell in step behind her Lord. She looked back at her new friend and swallowed a lump of envy.

\------------------------------------------------------

Layers of shimmery silk and two fluffy mokomoko cocooned InuMaigo in a warm embrace. He stilled in her arms, but as her familiar scent soaked into his nose, everything felt right again. Snuggling into her arms, the true gravity of the situation crashed down on the pup. 

“Mother.” He closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. Tears poured down his chubby cheeks. Little fingers curled into her furs. “I’m sorry Mother. I’ll never chase a cat again. I promise. Please don’t be mad. I missed you so much.” 

A soothing resonance reverberated from InuKimi’s chest. She breathed in this new smell, the essence of her offspring, soaking it into memory. 

She lingered on the unique pine tinge of his father, knowing she’d yet to meet this youkai for whom she’d share a pup. “You are a vision, and full of strength.” She murmured, looking into his face while holding his cheeks between her palms. “Do not fret, we will get you back to me.” 

He shook as he sank into her arms, wrapping his legs around her slender waist. “I know it.” 

The old memories of carrying Sesshomaru through the Shiro gardens blossomed in her mind, and the new weight of a new pup on her hip gave her an idea. 

“Do you like flowers little one?” Sesshomaru had always loved their little walks, once upon a time.

The pup perked up, a smile gleaming up at her, “I like the white ones that glow when the moon is out.”

InuKimi grinned, chuckling lightly, “As do I my son, as do I. Night will be upon us soon.” 

They carried forward, quickly to fall in step with the two ahead of them. Sesshomaru’s youki expanded to acknowledge their presence, gently drifting against that of his Mother’s as a silent ‘hello’.

Moyashi watched the beautiful Western Lady float over the ground. The demoness looked exactly like the Lord, but even prettier! Her steps were graceful. She had on such pretty silks. InuMaigo was so lucky to have a Mother, especially one so gorgeous and powerful. 

Longing and envy, InuKimi could feel the young girl’s emotions wavering through her aura, the strongest being that of sadness. Her cottony pink hair drifted to and fro in the light wind. “Your Mother had that sweet cherry blossom hair as well.” 

Moyashi spun in her heel, gasping, “You knew my Mother!?” Her eyes were wide and her smile brightened up her small face.

“Oh yes, how could I not. The assassin who fell in love with the General she was ordered to destroy.” A wistful glaze darkened her golden eyes, “It is such a romantic story.” 

“Ew.” InuMaigo blanched, “Sounds gross.”

Moyashi hung on every word. She clapped her hands in front of her face and pleaded, “Please tell me the story! Please, InuKimi-Sama.” 

Sesshomaru sighed, glancing up to the sky as the sun began to sink beneath the horizon in a myriad of lush colors. 

The story began with a haiku...

Winter grows colder

Hot spring beckons a whisper

Ink skin glides, a kiss. 

...one that his Mother did not share. The seductive moments of a newly Mated pair, whether rumors or first hand encounters, did not belong in the ears of young. 

The tale made more sense as a tragedy, two warriors fell in love, the Mother died during childbirth, the end. 

Poetry brought romance to even the most mundane stories. Looking out through the thick green forest, noting the sprinkle of white glowing stars, he wrote his own lines in his mind. 

Words never to be shared, he entertained the beauty of the world around them, the soft grasses, and sound of crickets. 

InuKimi had the children laughing, turning a sad tale into one of comedy. Pups enjoyed light hearted things. The girl seemed to enjoy hearing of her parents, her aura lightened and bubbled about. 

Studying with the elderly miko Keade, Rin left a quiet space on the roads travelled. Her chatter filled days with warm memories. Before her, Sesshomaru would never have thought children to be tolerable. The interactions between the children and his Mother sparked a slight notion. 

What would it be like to possess a Mate and pups? Would that be so enjoyable?

Brown leaves crunched beneath his black boots. The answer came like a breath from the wind. “It would please This Sesshomaru.” He proclaimed the truth as it hit him.

“Moyashi!” The booming voice came from below the ground. A huge opening brought forth a youkai with rich black skin and sleek inky hair. His white eyes grew a fraction larger, “Lord Sesshomaru, Lady InuKimi, my apologies for the intrusion.” He bowed at his waist, dark hair trailing the dirt. 

Sesshomaru tilted his chin, his eyes shifted to his new half brother who scrambled from his Mother’s arms. 

“Hello General.” InuMaigo spoke up as the tall youkai rose back to his full height. “This InuMaigo will leave Moyashi’s protection to you.” 

The General’s slender brow curved upward, he looked to his Lord for clarity. 

“The pup offered your daughter protection while away from the Shiro.” 

“Then you have my greatest thanks young one.” Onmitsu’s voice held the thick resonance of a deep cavern. 

“You’re welcome...I mean, it brought This InuMaigo great honor to do so.” The pup beamed and blushed. 

InuKimi gently petted his silver hair, her aura filled with pride. 

“Hi Papa,” Moyashi stepped out from behind Lady InuKimi. Tears lined her eyes as she looked to the disappointed face of her father. “It won’t happen again?”

Onmitsu’s eyes narrowed, “This discussion is better suited for in our home, my Daughter.”

She pouted, “Yes, Papa.” 

A shift of the Earth and a staircase led deep into the ground. “A full report awaits your return My Lord.” Another bow, a tilt of Sesshomaru’s chin, and the pair disappeared. 

“I don’t understand,” The little pup murmured as they watched the forest floor return to its moss covered existence. “You said Moyashi’s Mother had skin as black as a starless night? Her Father’s skin is like that, but Moyashi has skin like caramel candy...”

“Oh.” InuKimi laughed, shifting him on her hip as she looked him in the eye. “You must tell me more about these candies as you call them. As for your question, Moyashi will develop certain traits as she grows up, just as you will develop different traits as you grow up.”

InuMaigo’s face scrunched, “I don’t want her to change. She is fun right now.”

“Perhaps she will be in the future as well, remember it’s not appearances that count but what lies within.” She rocked him as they took to the skies. Her eldest and Alpha led the way ahead. 

The eaves of the shiro glittered high above the trees. The grey mountain backdrop made the sleek black peaks gleam. Youkai tree wood made up the massive structures of a traditional Japanese castle compound. 

The bridge creaked as they walked over the deep river that separated the compound from the whole of the Western Lands. 

“Look upon your heritage, young one.” InuKimi murmured into the pup’s ear.

“He is asleep.” 

She sighed, realizing her son was right, “So he is.” Her long fingers ran through baby soft hair. The lull of a babe’s heartbeat soothed the part of her soul that had thought this feeling would never occur in her lifetime once again. “My dream pup dreams.”

Sesshomaru slowed his steps. “You found him in your dreams?”

Golden eyes swam with emotions he could not pinpoint as she looked up at him, “When you get to my age, a new Mate and pup seem like wishful thinking.” Her gaze returned to the boy in her arms, “Thinking foolish thoughts will lead to heartbreak.”

She watched as Sesshomaru walked away. Emotionally constipated, like his Father, InuKimi had not expected him to wash through the sadness in the air and fill it with his strong confident aura. 

“Come, Mother.”

\----------------------

Something felt off. The wind warmed in an instant, pulling them toward a sidewalk vendor. Kagome paused, looking over silly old items. 

The little street cart held old treasures that weren’t much to look at. Sesshomaru watched his wife as her breathing stilled and her slender fingers reached out toward a glass case. 

“Sesshomaru!” Her elbow rammed him in the side. “Look!” She was gasping, bouncing on the balls of her feet. 

“What is it?” He leaned over her shoulder. Eyes narrowed.  _ The book. _ “Impossible.” 

Raven hair swiped him in the face as she spun, knocking his knees with the stroller she’d been pushing. Brows raised, cerulean eyes like a raging storm. Her finger poked into the air, “We must interfere. That’s it! It must have been me...us...” She looked away in thought, sobering, “Of course it was us... Sesshomaru,” Her fingers curled into his sleeve, “We have to speak with Souta.” 

“We do?” 

“Of course we do, you and I, both of us.” A radiant smile had her eyes seeming far bluer than blue could be. 

Brushing his claws through her hair, he couldn’t help but smile back, “And so it begins.” He didn’t care that the stroller knocked him in the knees once again as he leaned in to kiss the warm lips of his Mate. She tasted as divine as the first time he’d brushed his mouth over her skin. 

Their youngest giggled as she reached up to tug a strand of silver hair, tearing him away from his revelry. “Chi...chui!” She crowed. 

“Ah looks like someone else wants kisses!” Kagome laughed, leaning down to smother their year old with a million butterfly kisses. “Sesshomaru get the book, write the inscription...ahhh my cutie, nom nom nom!” 

“It is not in my handwriting.” He reminded her, waggling his own finger over their daughter’s nose. Chubby hands swiped upward, trying to catch her prey.

“But,” His Mate looked wide eyed from him to the book, “It’s not in mine either. What are we going to do?”

“Pardon my interruption, lovely couple, but I could not help overhearing that you require an inscription. We provide such services for a small fee.” As his large mouth formed a thin wide grin, he waved over a girl dressed in a middle schooler’s uniform, “My daughter has lovely calligraphy skills.” 

She blushed with her head bowed. “It would be an honor to write a message for you in one of our fine tomes.” She held out a sample of her handwriting. Her thin lines and wispy lettering matched the exact writing style of the inscription Kagome had read throughout the years.

“Yes!” Kagome clapped her hands, beaming, “So it was you!” 

Sesshomaru listened to the hard beating of her heart, the excitement in her breath. “300,000 yen.” The merchant’s eyes gleamed greedily as he reached for the wad of bills. Sesshomaru tugged away, his golden eyes darkened, “We were never here.”

“Yes, yes of course!” He nearly fell backward when Sesshomaru released his hold on the money. 

When the inscription was finished, they paid for an additional gift wrapping option. Kagome’s fingers ghosted over the rough canvas trappings. 

Sesshomaru pushed the stroller along, his aura gently keeping his Mate from stepping in the many wet puddles along the sidewalk. Her mind had drifted to the past, and he did not wish to disturb her. 

“It’s the same texture and everything...” She murmured as they continued down the path toward the hospital. 

His thoughts also clouded with what was once and what may be, how to go about delivering the message to her younger brother. They had always planned on a reunion with her family. Now that the time was nigh, even he felt the pressure on his shoulders. He had never asked for her hand. 

A splash and Kagome squeaked, “Ah, gross...well these shoes are ruined.” 

\-------------------------

“Inuyasha said the well needed to recharge?” Kagome’s brow furrowed as she gulped down her third glass of water. Aside from her mouth feeling like the sahara desert, and her stomach grumbling for food, she woke feeling completely refreshed. “What does that mean?” Her fingers tapped the side of the glass.

“That is what he said.” Mrs.Higurashi hated to see her daughter sad.“To be honest Kagome, I don’t think anyone really knows what caused the well to close, but if he came through then it must be open again.” 

Her mother patted her hand reassuringly, but her face held her concern. “If you want to try to use it again, I will understand.” She wouldn’t ask her to give up her life in the feudal era. 

“I’m sorry for scaring you Mama.” Kagome leaned into her Mother’s embrace, burying her head in the familiar warmth. 

She breathed in the smell of clean laundry and mint leaves, fresh cotton and her Mother’s daily morning tea. 

It recalled every hug, every cuddle, from scraped knees to watching old movies in the dead of winter curled up on the couch. “I love you Mama.”

“Hey, they had rice balls too so I got you one to go with your soup.” Souta came into the room carrying a tray overflowing with food. He tossed his backpack into the nearby chair and handed her the tray. 

“My hero!” Kagome threw her hands up into the air, glad the nurse had taken her IV out that morning. “It all looks so yummy!” 

Their Mother looked skeptical as she watched her daughter’s eyes light. Her son had a strange happy air about him. She had pushed him through the door to get him out of the room, he’d been so upset and now... something had changed. 

Souta walked with small steps as to not drop any of the goodies. “Just don’t over eat Kagome. You’ll make yourself sick.” 

“I won’t _ , mom _ ...” She mumbled sarcastically while taking a chunk of riceball. “Oh wow, Souta you did good. Here try some.” 

Souta grinned, taking a big bite of his own rice ball. “You’re telling me! I ate four of these on the way back up here.” 

“Four!?” Mrs.Higurashi laughed, “I guess it’s about time you started getting ravenously hungry.” She lightly fluffed his hair, “You’re already getting taller every day.”

“Mom...” He grumbled, shrugging away from her touching, “Stop it.” Glancing up at her, he saw the question in her eyes, the one that he knew meant she knew something had happened. The same look she’d given him when he’d eaten an entire bag of candy and hid the empty bag in Grandpa’s room. “I think there’s someone in the hall for you.” He murmured just so she could hear.

Kagome’s teeth sank into another bite of warm sticky rice. She listened to the sound of her brother’s embarrassment, and took his smile into memory. 

Her Mom was right. He had been growing recently. His voice had yet to start cracking from puberty, but he had gotten taller in the last month. 

“Maybe I shouldn’t go back just yet.” She muttered, catching them both off guard.

They stopped bickering, both looking at her as if she’d grown a second head. 

“Don’t make any rash decisions.” Her Mom patted her leg, “I’ll be back later. Grandpa said he was having a hard time finding the puppy.” She walked out the door, leaving Kagome bewildered. 

Her brows furrowed as she looked to Souta, “What puppy? We have a cat.”

Suddenly the happy go lucky smile fled his face. His lips thinned with a frown and his brows furrowed. “You don’t remember Sesshy?”

“Sesshy?” She blinked back at him. Sesshomaru? He wouldn’t know Sesshomaru. Her gaze narrowed, “Should I?”

“Well, yeah.” Souta shifted in his spot on the edge of her bed. “He’s our dog. We rescued him. He sleeps with you every night.”

“Oh.”

“Don’t worry Kagome, when you see him you’ll remember.” He smiled, but Kagome could tell he didn’t believe it himself. Worry darkened his eyes a deep mahogany. 

“Souta.” She held her own concern deep in her chest. “I’ll remember.”  _ Maybe. _

He grabbed a fruit cup. “Here, eat.” He watched as she poked a spoon around in the mushy fruit cocktail. “Eh, you don’t have to if you don’t want to.” 

“It’s just,” A frown made her look tired, “I’m missing out on being a big sister.” 

“Huh? That's...” He sat down beside her on the small hospital bed. After everything, she was having concerns about leaving again. He might have encouraged her to stay this morning, but not now... now, he  _ knew _ . “You have to go back.”

Blue eyes caught his stern expression. The serious line of his lips, and the heat of his brown eyes. He looked older. He looked like the older of them, wise... 

She gulped. “I miss you. Don’t you miss me? I haven’t even watched one of your soccer games this year.”

“Well, yeah.” He frowned, “Of course I miss you.” Her lips thinned and he caught her hand, “You need to go back Kagome. Don’t argue with me. Okay?” 

“I guess,” She mumbled.

“Oh yeah,” In a strange flurry of movement, he jumped off the bed and reached for his backpack. “I almost forgot.” He pulled out a small rectangle covered in thick cream colored fabric and tied up with twine. “Here.” 

“Souta, you didn’t have to get me anything...” 

Her vision blurred with tears. They glistened. They poured. She paused over the frayed edges to blink them away. 

“Just open it.” Whatever it was...

“Sorry.” She sniffled and tugged at the bow. Gently uncovered, a black book was revealed. No title. The spine groaned as she opened the aged cover.

_ Take us with you on your journeys, we will forever be in your heart. I will take care of Mama and Grandfather. If the well closes, I will see you again. I need you to take care of yourself like you’ve taken care of everyone else. Go and be happy.  _

_ Love, Souta. _

  
  


“Souta?” Her head perked up. She was really crying now. Snot-nosed. ”How did you _ know _ ?”

He scratched the back of his neck, “Ah, that.” Well, he hadn’t wanted to say before, but now he had no choice. “It’s kind of obvious Kagome, you haven’t aged in a few years.” 

Her jaw tensed. The back of her hand wiped at her tears. “Does Mama know?” His smile tilted and she knew. “All of you? And no one mentioned it...” 

Souta winced. “Don’t be mad Sis. We didn’t want to worry you.” 

“It’s...fine.” She swallowed the fear in her chest. It hadn’t been just her that noticed it. All her friends knew, it shouldn’t be a surprise that her family had realized it as well. “I fused with the jewel when we destroyed Naraku. I’m not sure if it is a forever thing though Souta, I don’t know if I’ll last into this time.” 

Five hundred years... Outliving everyone. 

“For all you know Mom is talking to your future self right now.” He blurted before slapping his hand over his mouth with a loud clap. 

Her eyes went wide. “What... what did you...” Panic boiled and bubbled over into a surprising peace. Kagome smiled the first real smile in many months. “Souta, you are the best little brother!” Her arms captured him. 

“Ugh, quit hugging me. Please.” 

She squeezed harder. “I promise not to ask any questions!” 

“Good. Now. Let. Me. Go.” He scrambled backward, knocking over the tray of food. 

The perfect ending to a horrible experience. He began the day dreading the future, worrying for his sister, unsure of everything. 

They were laughing when his Mother burst into the room. “Are you alright?” She went over to her son, picking up the spilled soup and sticky rice. Surprisingly her children were giggling like babies... like the baby in the hall... 

She glanced over at her daughter. Light touched her face. Glowing. Beautiful. Happy.

“Everything will be alright Mama.” Kagome grinned. 

“I know it will.” She kissed her forehead and touched her face, knowing her eldest child would be leaving her soon. “I love you.” 

They seemed to hug forever. That night her Grandfather squeezed the life out of her, bought her a new backpack and filled it with sutras.

“You do realize I’m not leaving for a couple of days right?” 

“I know.” He sniffled, wiping his eyes, “But you never know with these things Kagome. Haven’t I ever told you about the Inugami-Mochi down the street, they have been envious of our family for centuries.” He waved his hand in the air toward the road, “You hear me Sakawa, Hikaru! I know of your jealousy!” 

She went pale. The neighbor came out shaking a broom in their direction. In his underwear. How embarrassing! 

“You poor excuse for a Shrine Keeper! I have more spiritual power in my di-”

“Okay! Grandpa! In the house, now!” Kagome shoved him through the door and turned the deadbolt. He and his  _ frienemies _ were nuts.


End file.
